Something very interesting has been happening relative to haplogroup C. As
a quick refresher, haplogroup C is typically an Asian clade, having
originated either in the Middle East or in western Asia about 50,000 years
ago, so it's also a very old haplogroup. My original interest in haplogroup
C was because one of its subclades was found in the Native American
population, along with Q. Haplogroup C and Q are the only 2 known founder
male haplogroups for AmerIndian groups. C3b is found only in the Americas.
To read a brief summary of where the various clades of haplogroup C are
found, see the ISOGG link here:http://www.isogg.org/tree/ISOGG_HapgrpC09.html. (Thank you ISOGG, again,
for this important resource.)

The interesting occurrence is that we have been seeing a smattering of
haplogroup C now in European populations.

To date, we have haplogroup C people in Europe in England, France, Poland
and Spain. There are only few in each location (and not all are members of
Ed's project), and they are not clustered geographically.

Let's face it, if we're finding them in Europe, we'll find European
haplogroup C in the areas settled by the Europeans which includes the US,
Canada, South America to some extent and Australia. In all of these areas,
AmerIndian and Aboriginal haplogroup C is also found and is the presumed
predominant flavor of C, or so we think. Now we need to know and to be able
to differentiate. We need to know several things.

1. Which subgroup of haplogroup C is found in Europe? Is there more than
one? Were their multiple founders? Is this a new subgroup? When did this
or these subgroups occur? And when did C come to Europe?

2. In the immigrant areas, we need to be able to tell via a deep clade test
if the haplogroup C individual is indeed Native or of European heritage, or
perhaps there are chapters to be written on C in the extended settlement
areas that we don't know about because we don't today have the capability of
a deep clade test.

I contacted Bennett at Family Tree DNA and they have graciously agreed to
construct a Deep Clade Test for haplogroup C, at cost, as a courtesy to
their clients. There are a total of 18 SNPS that need to be calibrated. 7
of these are either completed or will be shortly and Family Tree DNA is
contributing these to the effort. That leaves 11 SNPS to be calibrated at
$100 each. So we need to raise a total of $1100. We would also like to be
able to test the few Europeans who have turned up with haplogroup C, so if
by some miracle, we would raise more than the $1100 we need, we will apply
the extra to that endeavor. And then, maybe a Walk through the Y would be a
good thing, but for now, I just want to focus on the $1100 we need for the
calibration to be able to offer the Deep Clade test for haplogroup C.

So here's my plea..if you are interested in any of the following scientific
areas, please consider donating:
1. Native American, Aboriginal Canadian, Mexican or South American
Ancestry.
2. Haplogroup C
3. The development of the haplogroups and migration into Western Europe
4. Australian or Asian ancestry
5. You're interested in personally playing an important role in the
advancement of science.

Select "C", then again, the first option "C" for project name. Please be
sure to note "Y-Haplogroup C calibration" so it gets to the correct project.
If you're not comfortable with donating in this manner, but wish to
contribute, please contact me or Ed Martin offline. Ed's e-mail is here and
he is not a member of this list - . Please e-mail Ed or I
and let us know that you have donated so we can be sure it gets credited
properly

In a nutshell, if we can't get the funding, we won't be able to move forward
with this important project. Please consider a contribution. Please pass
the word on to any others or groups that might be interested as well. Feel
free to repost.